Assessing the Obama Doctrine in the Middle East ─ What Next?

On the heels of Iran’s recent missile tests and the five-year anniversary of the Syrian War, Hudson Institute hosted a discussion on the guiding principles and effectiveness of President Obama’s Middle East strategy and how the next administration should approach the region.

Has President Obama’s overall regional strategy advanced American interests by securing a nuclear deal with Iran, for example, or has it fueled greater polarization and instability, weakening America’s standing in a critical area of the world? What has President Obama gotten right about the region, and where has he miscalculated? Should the next administration continue the Obama Doctrine? If not, what strategy and policies should replace it?

On April 7, Hudson Institute held a timely conversation on the Middle East with remarks by Senator Lindsey Graham, a prominent voice in Washington on national security, and a panel of leading experts including Robert Satloff of the Washington Institute, Amb. Eric Edelman of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Michele Dunne of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Doran, who moderated the discussion.